Leo Silveira Yoga » Yoga for Seniors http://leosilveira.com Yoga the answer to stress and health problems Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:49:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 What Yoga Means to me? http://leosilveira.com/what-yoga-means-to-me http://leosilveira.com/what-yoga-means-to-me#comments Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:32:47 +0000 donnahouston http://leosilveira.com/?p=25 I love the feeling I get when I do yoga, whether it is in the house as part of my sporadic attempt at daily practice or in the class at the gym.  The feeling of being me, centered, chilled, relaxed but challenged.  I find that yoga is the answer to a busy life and sometimes when I have being having problems only the thought of getting to class has kept me sane.  It is the only class I feel is a treat rather than a chore.

I always feel better after a yoga class, calmer more relaxed, stronger and more able to tackle life and its challenges.  I feel connection to the people in the class even though I may not know their names, we welcome newcomers and they become a part of the yoga family.

I have done many different types of exercise over the years with varied results, some were fun, some were hard most I did not stick to and I thought I was a failure when I gave up after only a few months.  I enjoyed, to name a few, salsa, belly dancing, various martial arts, gymnastics, swimming, hill walking, running and the many classes at the gym, I always gave up and started something else.  In my defense I have moved a lot, different regions and even countries but I always did some form of exercise even if it was only press ups and crunches in my bedroom.

I have always done meditation practice of some kind and yoga feels more like a physical representation of meditation than a form of exercise to me.  The irony to me is that even though I fell in love with yoga in the last four years, my regret is that I did not find it sooner but I did and did not recognize that it was what I was looking for, when I was seventeen (I actually fell asleep in the class).  I have found it now and I am prepared and eager to stick with it, I can see myself practicing yoga into my 90’s just like one member of our yoga group.

]]> http://leosilveira.com/what-yoga-means-to-me/feed 0 Using Yoga to Get Rid of Stress http://leosilveira.com/using-yoga-to-get-rid-of-stress http://leosilveira.com/using-yoga-to-get-rid-of-stress#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:57:02 +0000 donnahouston http://leosilveira.com/?p=11 Life in general is quite stressful, and there is really no one who does not experience some level of stress. Very many things that we do every day can cause a great deal of stress, even just waiting for something or someone for instance. What is important therefore, is to learn how you can manage the stress you experience. One of the best methods you can apply is the practice of yoga.

Yoga is a very effective means of relaxation, which is important in the alleviation of stress. As the various Yoga postures help in relaxing the muscles in your body, meditation will help your mind to relax as well.

Yoga is also quite helpful in developing a more positive attitude, which is something that will help you after your exercises. This means that yoga will give you long-term benefits that will help you to have a relatively stress-free life.

Yoga will help you to manage your stress, not by making you resist the negative feelings, but by changing your perception towards any such feelings whenever they crop up.

Another important aspect of yoga that helps in removing stress is the control of breath. The slow, deep breaths are very effective in relaxing both the body and mind. You will have even better results if you focus on the breaths by taking them with your eyes closed. Closing your eyes will help you to pay more attention to particular areas of your body. You will thus get into a better frame of mind.

Donna Houston

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